Polyurathane liquid plastic. Alternative to resin?

lokey69666

lokey69666

Member
So i got this liquid plastic stuff which comes in two parts. I believe its like the smooth-cast stuff you lucky folks in the US go on about.
I double coated one of the pepped helmets i have and so far i'm impressed.
I decided I might try a little experiment. I took the hand plates for the Ironman mark four (robo3687, I thank you.) pep and placed some glassfibre tissue (cut to size) on the inside and gave it a nice coat of liquid plastic.
I got to say, that ***** is solid, and its only the first coat.
I will post some pic's as soon as my camera stops doing its impression of a paperweight.
 
lokey
where do you get your plastic from and how expensive is it? I'm also a UK man and would love to give this a whirl and the hand plates I just made!
 
I have tried that too. It will work very well but it hurts the wallet more than fibreglass resin. I found a store that sells Epoxy resin, which is also a good alternative for stinky polyester resin (I refer to epoxy as the wife-friendly resin). But, it is still much more expansive than good old polyester resin. That shop sells epoxy resin for $58.50 for a 1/2 gallon and $43.00 for the hardener (it's a 2:1 ratio mix). The polyester resin is $50.00 for a whole gallon and comes with the hardener...
That's in Canadian currency. Bottom line: I need a new house with a detached garage/shop so that I can do fibreglass...
 
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So, IN the U.S. this is where I found to get Smooth-Cast 65D:
Smooth-Cast® 45D & 60D/61D/65D/66D Product Information | Smooth-On

Their site says they are located in "
Smooth-On, Inc.
2000 Saint John Street
Easton, Pennsylvania 18042"

So this has me Wondering XRobots where they produce it in the UK? Just curious?

Further What is the name of this polyester resin that you use? The smooth cast 65D is $85.85 USD. That's for 1 gallon of both Part A and Part b, it's 1:1 mix ratio. Could get heavy as hell. And that's not even counting shipping and hazardous materials costs and blah blah blah....

Anywho, I figured that if there is a Polyester Resin in canada, or it's equivalent here might end up being cheaper/lighter.

Cheers!
 
Siyoum3434 said:
So, IN the U.S. this is where I found to get Smooth-Cast 65D:
Smooth-Cast® 45D & 60D/61D/65D/66D Product Information | Smooth-On

Their site says they are located in "
Smooth-On, Inc.
2000 Saint John Street
Easton, Pennsylvania 18042"

So this has me Wondering XRobots where they produce it in the UK? Just curious?

Further What is the name of this polyester resin that you use? The smooth cast 65D is $85.85 USD. That's for 1 gallon of both Part A and Part b, it's 1:1 mix ratio. Could get heavy as hell. And that's not even counting shipping and hazardous materials costs and blah blah blah....

Anywho, I figured that if there is a Polyester Resin in canada, or it's equivalent here might end up being cheaper/lighter.

Cheers!
Click to expand...


Yes that's the manufacturer's website you have there, I posted the link to the UK Smooth-on reseller above. Polyurethane will be stronger in thin sections that Polyester resin without reinforcement.

There are Smooth-on distributors worldwide including Canada, but you can probably find other Polyurethane fast cast too:

http://www.smooth-on.com/pages.php?pID=105
 
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Well, it's for a large, but light as I can make it, costume, and wanted to do an inside coating and outside coating. Giant combat APU of Mr. Peanut, lol, for Steamcon here in Seattle WA, USA.
 
i was just thinking about this subject earlier, then come here to find a thread on it! :) i was also thinking about James' (XRobots') plastic coating method, and was also wondering if the 65D is just the same as any other polyurethane resins. and from what you guys have saidm it seems to be the same.

when it comes to it (weather i coat it or not,) i will be going for THIS im guessing its the same basically
 
StarksWarehouse said:
i was just thinking about this subject earlier, then come here to find a thread on it! :) i was also thinking about James' (XRobots') plastic coating method, and was also wondering if the 65D is just the same as any other polyurethane resins. and from what you guys have saidm it seems to be the same.

when it comes to it (weather i coat it or not,) i will be going for THIS im guessing its the same basically
Click to expand...


The 65D is a specific rotocast resin which sets slowly though liquid-gel-solid, so it makes a smooth coat, generally inside the mould as you roate/cast with it. This is why I used it for the outside of the foam - so it make a smooth finish. Smooth-on sell other Polyurethanes with varying cure times, but yes there are other Polyurethane resins on the market.
 
Siyoum3434 said:
Well, it's for a large, but light as I can make it, costume, and wanted to do an inside coating and outside coating. Giant combat APU of Mr. Peanut, lol, for Steamcon here in Seattle WA, USA.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about a foam costume or card Pepakura?. Polyester resin with fibreglass reinforcement will be more rigid in large sections compared to Polyurethane on it's own. Polyurethane will be less likely to crack in thin sections without reinforcement, but more likely to warp/bend if it's unsupported.

So for large card/paper Pepakura pieces use normal fiberglass, either with Polyester resin or Epoxy resin. For coating foam I used PVA and then Polyurethane, so the plastic coat is supported by the foam. You can also use Polyurethane for smallish pieces, but you'll find it may warp if the piece is too thin/large.

All my suit pieces are Polyurethane, although I've made alternative torso parts out of fiberglass (not pictured) because they will be lighter and more rigid: XRobots.co.uk - Iron Man MkVI Armour
 
andy19422 said:
I'm in the UK and I buy mine from Tomps Polyurethane Fast Cast Resin
Very good stuff, I tried slush casting with it, from liquid to solid in about five minutes.
Click to expand...

I've used that in the past, but I found that when rotocasting it left lumps and bumps on the inside of the cast as it cured suddenly, whereas the 65D left a smooth surface because it cures less rapidly so gravity smooths it out. This isn't such as issue for the inside of the piece, but if you're coating the outside you want to get the best finish possible...
 
StarksWarehouse said:
on TOMPS the do offer a slower curing version, but that is still 7 minutes, seem pretty fast to me. How long does the 65D take to cure?
Click to expand...

About 10-15 mins, but the point is that it cures gradually so gravity keeps it smooth as you rotate the piece. Other Polyurethanes change quickly from liquid to solid without much working time in between. You can probably still coat something with it, but you'll have to keep the coats thin and not allow any large amounts to pool up anywhere.
 
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